An ink printer, in particular, an inkjet printer makes use of a carriage which traverses a medium on which printing is to be effected. The carriage contains an ink cartridge commonly referred to as an “ink pen”.
The ink cartridge contains a supply of ink and supports a print head. The print head makes use of an ink ejecting die. Ink is ejected from selected nozzles of the die by means of an actuating mechanism that includes a resistive heating arrangement.
The cartridge is removably received in the carriage whereby electrical connections are made to the actuating mechanism of the cartridge. The electrical connection is effected by way of a plurality of conductors. The conductors engage electrical traces for the actuating mechanism. The traces are carried on a flexible circuit board arranged on an outer surface of the cartridge.
The conductors are pin-shaped and protrude into the carriage. Therefore, insertion of the cartridge into the carriage can result in the conductors damaging the circuit board rendering the cartridge inoperative or causing the cartridge to malfunction.
A secondary consideration is that, if the flexible circuit board is inadequately adhered to the ink cartridge, ink can wick between the cartridge and the flexible circuit board resulting in leakage of ink which can contaminate the carriage and printer.